Coming Soon

Coming Soon

Workshops

We have some amazing workshops to offer you in future months, so keep a look out for these gems coming to a workshop space near you. If you'd like to see our workshops currently available please visit our Book Now - Calendar page.

And of course, if there is a workshop listed, and you have 8-25 friends/students/colleagues all keen to do the workshop at a location you have found then please get in touch with Jess or Becky to book your own bespoke workshop at a time that suits you .... school/Uni/YouthClub/a Home/Studio or beautiful garden ... we can come to you.

A Stitch In Time - Embroider a Cushion

From the long-ago young damsels locked up in their ivory towers to bored wrens waiting for the weekend in the fifties, to the young feminist movements taking their balls of yarn to the streets of London, embroidery is generally trivialised as sentimental women’s craft. Often thought of as pretty, as a decorative past-time, embroidery has recently enjoyed a revival, thanks to artists such as James Merry who uses the technique and it’s twee motifs to juxtapose with brash capitalist logos of the high street fashion world.

During this workshop You will embroider a cushion to make it unique. It could have the shock factor or it could be super cute, or you may want to embroider a special date or birthday. Whatever the occasion it will certainly demand others take a second look.

Time & Cost: 3 hours £45

Cat Collage

Cross-Stitch

Have you ever completed a cross stitch? Satisfying, time consuming, beautiful and enduring. Cross-stitch is the oldest form of embroidery and can be found all over the world. Many folk museums show examples of clothing decorated with cross-stitch, especially from continental Europe, Asia, and Eastern and Central Europe.

Using one of Becky’s Cat Collage Cross Stitch designs you will be taught the basics of cross stitch. Throughout the session you will be encouraged to explore other types of embroidery that can enhance the design. There will be less emphasis on creating a uniform cross stitch, but more on how you can enhance the design in your own unique way using a variety of materials, threads and embellishments. It’s your time to play, be creative and have fun while enjoying the mindful art of embroidery.

Cost: 3 hours £45

Contemporary Embroidery Sampler

Long gone are the days of embroidery sampler books with tiny neat stitches in minute embroidery flosses. Today embroidery is vibrant, bold, illustrative or abstract. Everything goes!!! Fabric scraps, sequins, beads, painted or printed backgrounds, applique - designs can evolve, be planned, or are happy accidents that adorn cushions, tea-towels, book covers, mix media works of art, fashion, accessories or even ceramics. We do however, love the sampler, and creating small embroidery books of ideas can be rewarding, mindful and beautiful.

No experience needed. You'll go back to basics by picking up the humble needle and thread to express yourself. There will be less emphasis on perfection, but working intuitively you will create a texturally rich sample that uses a vast array of beads, sequins, threads and yarns to represent you or that special someone. Sewing will encourage you to slow down, relax and clear your mind from the daily routine.

Cost 3 hours £45

Creative Textile Sampling

Innovation in textiles is key to developing exciting new products. But before we see the end result, or decide on a design aesthetic, or output, textile and print designers undertake sometimes quick - sometimes long periods of sampling - what we love to call ‘focused play’.

Within this experimental workshop you will create unconventional and exceptional mixed media samples for interiors or fashion. Using a vast array of fabrics, plastics, yarns, fibres and print methods you will experiment with techniques such as sewing (hand and machine), heat moulding/pressing, weaving, manipulation, knotting, tying, crochet, print, and knit. You will have the opportunity to experiment with a number of techniques, but if a complete beginner to some, we can share basic knowledge of specific processes that you can use in a vast number of ways.

Cost: 5 hours £70

Embellish that Bag

Personalise an organic cotton messenger bag to keep for years to come or give as an extra special gift. Customising is the rage, and wearing something handmade has never been so cool.

For budding fashion designers and creative enthusiasts! This session will get you testing your flair for design and customising whilst sampling a variety of textiles techniques, including garment vinyl, printing and applique. Not sure of your theme? Worry not - we will have plenty of inspirational images and ideas to hand to get your creative juices flowing.

Time & Cost: 3 hours £45

Embellish those Sexy Pants

“Make-Do-And-Mend” means to manage with and repair the possessions one already has rather than buying replacements.

We wholeheartedly believe that we should treasure our garments, rather than throw them away. In the 1940s it was Make Do and Mend, but today, while this message is still important we want to change it to create “Make do and Make Sexy!” Come on … find those perfectly fitting trousers - the ones you really love - and lets make them every more special by embellishing them with prints, embroidery, tassels, tiny gems, beads … or whatever you fancy …. That’s right people - it’s time to make your fancy pants.

Cost: 4 hours £60

Embroider a Book Cover

What’s your favourite book? Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum? 1984 by George Orwell? The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood? We all have a favourite - or 10! Or do you have a special E-book, sketchbook or diary that you love and want to make that little bit more special? Whatever your preference there is a long tradition of embroidering books to make the coffee table sparkle with your favourite reads.

You may want to copy the existing book cover of the book you’ve brought to the workshop - or you may want to illustrate, design and conceive a new book cover design. Once you’ve decided on your design we will support you in create a texturally creative mix-media embroidered book cover ready to be given as a gift, or treasured for years.

Cost: 4 hours £60

Express Yourself - Vinyl T-shirt or Sweater Design

We’ve had enough of wearing the same t.shirt as everyone else. From the logomania of the 90’s to the memes of the 2000’s. It’s all got a bit samey-samey. Yet the t.shirt, like fashion is still a way to connect with people and express your values without needing to utter one word. It’s time to own that top, that symbol, that famous saying, and do it, YOUR WAY.

In this workshop you will make your t.shirt into a wearable piece of unique art. Make it a space to say exactly what you want to say. For inspiration check out Lazy Oaf...

T-Shirts will be provided or feel free to bring your own. We’ll show you a few ideas and some t.shirts we’ve designed ourselves to get you started. The session will include using vinyl to create your own t.shirt graphics, there will also be the opportunity to add further features such as ribbons and tassels.

Cost: 3 hours £45

Fabric and Paper Printing for the Love

Feeling the LOVEEEEE? Valentine's Day is a time to celebrate romance and love and kissy-face stuff. But the origins of this festival of candy and cupids are actually dark, bloody — and a bit muddled. If you’re so inclined, check out Ancient Rome and the origins of Valentine's - it’s an interesting read, and may result in a very unique set of prints based on the month of love!

This print workshop will be themed white, red and black. That’s it. The rest is really up to you. Wear a read dress, or a fancy red sweater and enjoy 4 hours of pure printing. If you’ve attended one of our previous print workshops on paper, or fabric printing, you can choose, or do a bit of both. You maybe a print-newbie - that’s okay too - we can help you focus on creating a symmetrical motif that will create a striking design either on it's own or in a repeat. The choice is yours … we have the facilities, you bring the print love. You’ll have access to traditional etching and nipping presses.

We will supply a range of fabrics and papers, but if you have a stash at home feel free to bring them along.

Cost 3 hours £45

Fabric Screen Printing Furoshiki

Furoshiki is a traditional Japanese wrapping cloth that is used to transport bundled goods, wrap presents and carry bundled clothing.

Creating your own printed fabric to gift to someone, or wrap that bottle of wine in anticipation of the party you’ll be attending makes it all that more special. We’ll allow your the space to screen print your own fabrics, while giving your demonstrations on Furoshiki wrapping techniques.

You will take your prints away that you could use for Furoshiki wrapping or home interior decoration - you could frame it and put it on the wall!

Cost 3 hours £45

Fabric Screen Printing - Beginners

We have had a long love affair with screen-prints that have adorned wallpapers, fabrics, fine-art prints and so much more. Type in ‘screenprints’ into your trusty search engine and you will have access to hundreds, thousands, if not millions of gorgeous screen prints throughout the decades.

During this session you will be introduced to the fundamentals of screen printing on fabrics. You will learn how to create a design, expose it on to a screen and then print your design onto fabric using specialist print inks and a squeegee. You will be working in our professional print studio, learning key techniques to print your own unique design.

Cost 3 hours £45

Huichol Inspired Yarn Painting

"0ffering To The Blue Deer" by Luis Castro.

Huichol art broadly groups the traditional recent innovations in the folk art and handcrafts produced by the Huichol people, who live in the states of Jalisco, Durango, Zacatecas and Nayarit in Mexico. What identifies these groups is their colourful decoration of objects with historic signs symbols and designs.

Here is an example of a beautiful yarn painting by Luis Castro who uses beeswax on wood to create these often psychedelic works of art that are derived from a ceremonial tablet called a neirika.

Using signs and symbols that are important to you … an animal, family good luck charm, flowers, geometric shapes, you will explore collage techniques to design and make your own yarn painting for your or a special person’s wall.

You will learn the basic technique of yarn painting.

Cost 4 hours £45

Jazz Up Your Jacket

If Rebecca Robertson Embroidery, Gucci and Elena Stonaker can - so can you!! From the punk parties of the 70s to contemporary fashion, customising our clothes has always communicated who we are to our nearest and dearest and to the stranger walking past us in the street.

You will bring along a pre-loved jacket - you can find it in a charity shop, or you can bring the one you had forgotten you loved from the back of your cupboard. With out jacket in hand you will be given guidance on choosing a theme, signs, symbols or patterns that you can begin adding to your jacket. You will be introduced to some key design principles to help you explore scale, colour, repeat and texture. Say it subtly or say it loud … but it will be uniquely YOU!

The session will include using vinyl to create your own jacket graphics, and there will also be the opportunity to add further features including embroidery, applique, ribbons and tassels.

Cost: 4 hours £60

Novelty Holiday T-Shirt or Sweater Embellishment

The holidays are fast approaching and it’s time to brighten any occasion with your ‘statement’ piece. Since the 1980s we’ve had a strange, yet rather wonderful relationship with the novelty holiday jumper - and we hope you do too!! Bring your once loved, or newly acquired sweater, jumper or T-shirt for some magical festive embellishment. Using garment vinyls, pom poms, embroidery threads, applique and sequins you’ll pick a theme, design, and create your very own novelty garment for you or your best friend, Mum, Dad Nephew or Niece … or anyone totally special to you.

Cost: 3 hours £45

Oversized Knitted Jewellery

Are your clothes sophisticated black or jazzy multicoloured combos of prints ?…. Whatever your style you need to accessorise!!! Whether your a dab-hand at knitting, or a knitting newbie - we’ll teach you how to make your very own oversized knitted necklace. These statement pieces, designed for the neck - can of course - adorn your home - but be brave …. Let's get making a statement.

During the workshop you will learn the basics of icord knitting, and other knit structures to create oversized structures, and by the end of the session you will be well on your way to completing your first oversized knitted necklace (you may have finished it … but if you haven’t you’ll be able to take enough yarn home to complete it at your leisure).

Cost: 4 hours £60

Pajaki Inspired Felt Flower Chandelier

The Pajaki Chandelier is traditionally made from paper straws and paper pompoms, made in Poland by families during the holidays. They are hung through the winter to protect the home with good luck and good health. Using this vibrant, beautiful tradition, we invite you to make your own felt flower chandelier. Give it as a gift for someone who has moved into their first home, make one for a garden party, or reinvigorate and bring some sunshine colours into your home, this workshop will give you the essential skills to make your own good luck, good health chandelier.

Using felt, wire and straws you will be given step-by-step instructions to create your own vibrant felt flower chandelier. If you have a specific colour palette in mind (maybe you need all pinks and yellows - to fit with a bedroom or lounge colour scheme) …. Just let us know and we’ll make such we have the felt colours in just for you!

Cost: 5 hours £70

Pom Pom Jewellery and Accessories

Who loves a pom-pom? We certainly do!! These versatile, coloured balls of yarn can brighten anyone's mood. So why not spend a morning making pom-poms in a variety of ways to create your own statement piece of jewellery.

You’ll choose an upcoming trend colour-combo and create pom poms in varying scales. Once you have amassed some funky balls of yarn you’ll learn how to make them into a necklace, headdress and/or earrings. Depending on how quickly you work you may come away with a piece of jewellery for you, and a gift for someone special.

For those of you new to textiles this is a great way to start building on your knowledge of yarns and fibres. We can talk you through yarn qualities and share yarn and jewellery suppliers with you to help you continue this craft at home.

Cost: 3 hours £45

Punchneedle Possiblities

Learning and using the punchneedle you can create tufted surfaces, textured samplers, manipulate it into 3D structures - it has endless possibilities, and if needled right, you have a double sided fabric you can choose to use as a stand alone design, or combine with other embroidery crafts for a rich, experimental piece of work. Traditionally punchneedle work has been illustrative, artists telling a story within the needle artwork but with its recent revival contemporary artists are exploring the abstract, shapes, pattern and colour to sumptuous effect.

During the workshop, using simple geometric, and organic shapes you will create your own punch needle sample that you can turn into a fashion accessory - or hang it on your’s, or a friend’s wall.

You will learn the basic techniques of punchneedle. We will provide you with a vast array of coloured yarns and fibres to use with your punch needle (the punch needle is included in the cost of the workshop and you can take it home at the end of the session). If you have a specific colour palette in mind we are happy for you to bring your own yarns to work with.

Weaving is acknowledged as one of the oldest surviving crafts in the world. The tradition of weaving traces back to Neolithic times – approximately 12,000 years ago.

Using a circular frame and a variety of yarns, ribbons and fabric scraps you will combine colours and textures to make a weave for your floor or wall. Depending on how quick you work you’ll leave the workshop with a unique interior decoration for you or that special someone. It will be roughly the size of a doormat, or small coffee table.

You can bring your own fabrics, yarns, flosses, and threads to work with, and combine with the yarns and fibres we have available, or you can just turn up - We have a vast stock of materials and yarns that you can use during the workshop. You do not need any weave experience, just a desire to learn a new technique, or work in a new way.

Cost: 4 hours - £60

Stitch Bombing

Inspired by the sensational fashion revolutionary Victoria Villasana,this workshop will focus on turning photographs and prints into works of textiles art. Villasana is a textiles artist from Mexico, “interested in cultures & human spirit, looking at how people relate to each other in a fragmented, post-digital world.” She is well-known in the London street artist community for her “rebellious femininity and acute cross- cultural imagery.”

Take your favourite image one step further by customising it to create your very own work of art. Or make that statement clearer by using embroidery to emphasise the main point. You don’t need to have an image of a person, it can be a word, your pet, an object ot a pattern. If you haven’t got an image then come along and choose one of ours. You will leave with a work of art to hang up or give away.

You can either bring in a photo, print, painting, piece of fabric, wallpaper, greeting card, painting or anything. If the image is special we strongly advise you work on a copy, just so you aren’t so precious about ruining it which can stop your creative freedom.

Time & Cost: 3 hours £45

Tassel Mad

The Tassel, originating from the Latin word “tassau’, which refers to a clasp at the neck of a garment, has often been associated with power and prestige. These contemporary fashion accessories have a long history of adorning people, objects and the home.

Using a variety of yarns, ribbons and fabric scraps you will combine the unexpected with the unusual, or the lavish with luxurious to create textural tassels for fashion accessories and/or home interior decoration. These tassels could be used for tassel garlands, bag charms, trims, necklaces and/or earrings.

You can bring your own fabrics, yarns, flosses, and threads to work with, and combine with the yarns and fibres we have available, or you can just turn up - We have a vast stock of materials and yarns that you can use during the workshop.

Cost: 3 hours £45

Tea-Total-Towel-Taster

How often do we use tea towels….? The tea towel has now become a household essential in EVERY home… so let’s make it personal!! We also like to use linen fabric these days too, not because it’s fancy but because it is sustainable and good for the environment. It’s also super- absorbent and feels great. Washing up just got fashionable.

During the workshop you will create your humble tea towel into a work of art and have a go at a variety of simple printing techniques in a relaxed and inspiring atmosphere. We’ll supply all the kit, all you need do is book in and turn up.

Time & Cost: 3 hours £45

Worry Not Worry Doll

Worry dolls are mostly hand-made. In Guatemala, they are made of wire, wool and colourful textile leftovers. The dolls are then dressed in traditional Mayan style. The size of the doll can vary between 1⁄2 inch and 2.0 inches. In western cultures, the dolls are mostly made of pressed paper, adhesive tape, paper and colorful wool.

Exploring the basics of weave, yarn wrapping and doll construction you will create your own unique worry doll. This worry doll can be made into a fashion accessory such as necklace or earring; or given as a gift for someone going through a key transition.

Cost: 4 hours £60

Your Yoga Relaxer Pillow

Do you have tired eyes? Staring at a computer screen, concentrating in traffic, experiencing the excitement of life? Sometimes we just need to stop, breath in, close our eyes and relax. Whether your a yogi or not, this eye pillow is the perfect aid to help you relax after a fun, busy day.

This sensory workshop will get you working with different textures and smells. The aim is to create something with your hands from start to finish in just a few hours using natural materials (and herbs) which can be kept or given as a gift. It’s a great opportunity to use small pieces of fabric scraps or a small piece of your favourite